There are a lot of people now breeding electric blues. I see them a lot on Aquabid. I got a group that had roughly equal numbers of males and females. So they're out there.
I never found rams hard to keep or breed, but that's probably because I keep them like I keep discus. Rams appreciate warm, clean water like discus do. Frequent water changes are a big plus. I keep mine at 85F degrees or so. They eat micro-pellets, bloodworms, and freeze-dried blackworms. I've had them spawn in hard water with a pH of 7.6 but the parents always ate the eggs. I never managed to get fry, and I never separated the pair into a breeding tank to try. But yes, they will spawn in harder water.
They do have a short lifespan, so you'll only have them for a year or two at best. They always seem to be fast-moving and breathing, sort of like little hummingbirds. Mine are always busy quarreling and exploring.
Like everyone else said, get them from a hobbyist breeder and you'll be much better off. The ones from the LFS are usually so weak from stress that they crash when you get them home.
The name "German Blue Ram" always irritates me because it gets slapped on everything, even fish that are bred here in the States or imported wild from South America. There's nothing "German" about most blue rams.
I never found rams hard to keep or breed, but that's probably because I keep them like I keep discus. Rams appreciate warm, clean water like discus do. Frequent water changes are a big plus. I keep mine at 85F degrees or so. They eat micro-pellets, bloodworms, and freeze-dried blackworms. I've had them spawn in hard water with a pH of 7.6 but the parents always ate the eggs. I never managed to get fry, and I never separated the pair into a breeding tank to try. But yes, they will spawn in harder water.
They do have a short lifespan, so you'll only have them for a year or two at best. They always seem to be fast-moving and breathing, sort of like little hummingbirds. Mine are always busy quarreling and exploring.
Like everyone else said, get them from a hobbyist breeder and you'll be much better off. The ones from the LFS are usually so weak from stress that they crash when you get them home.
The name "German Blue Ram" always irritates me because it gets slapped on everything, even fish that are bred here in the States or imported wild from South America. There's nothing "German" about most blue rams.
